Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 (A)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how (B)to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent (C)their disciples to him, along with (D)the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, (E)we know that you are true and teach (F)the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for (G)you are not swayed by appearances.[a] 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay (H)taxes to (I)Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why (J)put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.[b] 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, (K)“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they (L)left him and went away.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 22:16 Greek for you do not look at people's faces
  2. Matthew 22:19 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer

Submission to Authority

13 (A)Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,[a] whether it be to the emperor[b] as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him (B)to punish those who do evil and (C)to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, (D)that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 (E)Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but (F)living as servants[c] of God. 17 (G)Honor everyone. (H)Love the brotherhood. (I)Fear God. Honor the emperor.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 2:13 Or every institution ordained for people
  2. 1 Peter 2:13 Or king; also verse 17
  3. 1 Peter 2:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person (A)be subject to the governing authorities. For (B)there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you (C)will receive his approval, for (D)he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, (E)an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also (F)for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. (G)Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

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